By Swami Chinmayananda

"Some act till they meet obstacles, others act inspite of obstacles, and conquer them; but some act not, fearing the possibility of some obstacles that might arise en route."

The very word OBSTACLE indicates to us the attitude required to overcome obstacles. Invoking these attitudes is to invoke the 'Ganesha' within us -

O - Objective Knowledge - "Knowledge is Power." Gain functional knowledge and skills in your chosen field. Lack of knowhow poses many obstacles.

B - Broadmindedness - "Life, when properly tuned, can round the sharp edges in our character." In a broader vision of Life in its entirety, obstacles are stepping stones to cultivate an inner perfection and an outer excellence.

S - Sensitivity - "Be like a flower. Give happiness and fragrance to all." A flower produces fragrance from mud, dirty water, manure, etc.

T - Toughness - "The Suffering depends not on the factual happening but on the texture of one's mind." Cultivate a 'tough' mind through study of the scriptures, faith in a Higher Reality, value - based life, etc.

A - Alertness - "Alert and vigilant living is a sadhana by itself." Alertness helps one to foresee the 'obstacle' and nip it in the bud.

C - Concentration - "Never complain, about the number of hours you have put in to do a job. How much of you was put into each hour of your daily work ?" The sun's rays (mind) when unified through a convex lens (concentration), burns away a piece of pape r(problems & negativites) below it.

L - Love of God - "Don't tell God how big your problem is. Tell your problem how big God is."

E - Enthusiasm - "Real men of achievement are people who have the heroism to fuel more and more enthusiasm in their work when they face more and more difficulties. Be Agressively good."

PPP